Inner Child
by luvforsawyer
Summary: After yet another demon attack, Phoebe and Leo start acting very strange. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **The characters/storyline/etc of Charmed are the sole property of their creators and not mine.

**Note: **This is my first shot at a Charmed fanfic. Please let me know what you think. Also, I haven't seen a whole lot of the series so please, by all means, feel free to let me know if someone's incredibly out of character (and not due to magical effects--hint hint)

* * *

The demon threw a glowing ball. It slammed into Phoebe's chest, knocking her backwards. Leo ran towards her only to be hit with a similar ball.

"Hey!" Piper said, drawing attention away from her sister and husband.

Paige stood at the top of the staircase and began to chant. Before she could finish, the demon faded out.

"Where the hell…"

"Who cares? He's gone for now."

"Who was it?"

"Don't know. Just figured a general vanquishing spell might at least scare him into leaving," Paige said. "I'll go check Wyatt."

Piper nodded. Leo held his hand over Phoebe's head, the familiar golden glow rushing from his hand. She gasped and sat up, looking around.

"Where'd he go?" Phoebe asked, wide eyed.

"He left, but he'll probably be back soon."

"But when he does, we'll be ready for him! Right, Leo?"

"Right!" He held up a hand and high-fived his sister-in-law.

"Okay…in the meantime, you guys feeling okay?"

"Sure."

"Yep."

"Demon hit them with something?" Paige asked as she carried Wyatt downstairs.

"Yeah. Only we're not sure what they were. They didn't look like energy balls exactly."

"Think we oughta call for Chris?"

Piper shook her head. "Leo, go ask the Elders."

"Do I have to?" he asked, pouting.

Paige frowned. "Um, yeah."

Leo gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes before orbing out.

"Did he just roll his eyes at me?" Paige asked.

Phoebe giggled. "Leo's gonna get in trouble!"

"Phoebe, what's the matter with you? You sound like you're five."

"I'm not five!"

Phoebe turned and ran up the stairs, slamming the door for obvious dramatic effect.

"Okay, what was that?" Paige asked.

Piper sighed and shrugged. "Who knows? She hasn't acted like that since we were kids."

"Hm…strange…"

"Here, why don't I take Wyatt upstairs while you go check the Book for that demon? I want to know what he hit them with."

Paige nodded and handed over Wyatt.

* * *

Leo orbed back in, his cheeks slightly flushed. "Hi!"

"What'd they say?"

"Who?"

"The Elders."

"Oh I don't know. I couldn't find 'em and these kids were playin' baseball and they let me play with 'em."

"You were playing baseball?"

Leo nodded, proudly sticking out his chest and grinning. "And I's the best guy on the whole team!"

"I would hope so. God knows you're old enough to be their great-grandfather," Paige muttered.

"Well you're stupid."

Paige's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"Leo!"

"What? She called me old!"

"You are!"

"You guys are mean!"

Piper took a deep breath. "Leo, honey, do you feel okay?"

"Fine. Where'd Phoebe go?"

"To her room."

"Is she in trouble?" he asked, giggling.

"No…wh—"

Before Piper finished her question he orbed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Phoebe sat on her bed, legs crossed and pouting as she stared out the window.

"Hi, Phoebe!"

She jumped. "Leo! You scared me!"

He laughed. "I scared you 'cause you're a scared-y cat! Scared-y cat! Scared-y cat!"

Phoebe smacked his arm. "Am not! You just sneaked in when I wasn't lookin'."

Leo rolled his eyes and flopped down on her bed, locking his arms behind his head. "Paige said I'm old. You think I'm old?"

Phoebe thought for a moment and shook her head. "You just bigger than her and she's mad 'cause she's still a little kid."

"Thanks. Hey, how come you're up here?"

"Piper said I'm five."

"That's mean. You're not five."

"I know!"

"So whatcha wanna do?" he asked, sitting up.

Phoebe shrugged. "Wanna go watch cartoons?"

Leo nodded and jumped up. "Last one downstairs is a rotten egg!"

Phoebe giggled and chased him from the room.

* * *

Piper and Paige looked up from the book. "You hear people running?"

"Yeah," Paige said. "Which, in this house, is never good."

They ran downstairs and found Phoebe and Leo sitting on the ground staring up at the television.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Watchin' cartoons," Phoebe said, not tearing her eyes from the screen.

"Okay well we need to, oh I don't know, find the demon who almost killed us," Piper said, growing annoyed. Wyatt's cries drifted down the stairs. "Leo, do me a favor and get him."

Leo turned towards Piper. "Shh, we can't hear the TV when you talk so loud."

"Leo, did you hear me? I asked if you can get our son."

Leo giggled. "Kids don't got babies."

Phoebe laughed. "Piper and Leo sittin' in a tree—"

"Okay, enough!"

"I'll go get him," Paige said, orbing out.

Piper stepped over to the television and turned it off before standing in front of it.

"Piper! No! We was watchin' that!" Phoebe whined.

"You're mean!"

"I don't know what the hell has gotten into you two but we don't have time for this!"

Phoebe's eyes filled with tears. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Phoebe, knock it off! You—"

Phoebe jumped up and ran from the room.

"Now you made her cry. I'm-a go find her," Leo said, orbing out.

Piper sighed. "This is ridiculous! Chris!"

Chris orbed in.

"Piper? What's going on?"

"Leo and Phoebe are acting like they're little kids!"

"What?"

Leo orbed back in with Phoebe in tow. "Chris! Chris is here!"

Phoebe let go of Leo's hand and flung her arms around the younger man. "Hi Chris! D'you wanna come play with us?"

"What?"

"We're gonna get some ice cream and then we're gonna go to the park and then we're gonna play baseball and then—"

"How long have they been like this?"

"Since some demon came and hit them with some glow-y ball thing."

"Glow-y ball thing?"

"Like an energy ball. Only not."

Chris frowned. "Doesn't sound familiar but I'll see what I can find out. Meantime, I'd suggest keeping them in the house."

Paige orbed back in, Wyatt in her arms. She handed him off to Piper.

"Keep who in the house?"

"No! We don't wanna stay in the house!" Leo shouted.

"Leo! No shouting."

"You wanna guess who?" Chris asked.

Leo lowered his voice. "We wan' go outside."

"Later, Leo," Chris said.

"Chris, you goin' home now?"

"No, I just have to go out for a minute."

"Could I come too?" Phoebe asked, tugging on his sleeve.

Chris shook his head. "No, I think you two should stay here with Piper and Paige. Maybe, um, maybe color or something?"

"Ooh! Paige! Could I play with your paints?" Leo asked. He jumped up and down, clasping his hands together. "Please! I'll be extra extra super-duper careful. I promise!"

Paige shot Piper a panicked look.

"Uh…how about I find you some crayons or markers or something, Pheebs?"

"And paper?"

"And paper."

"Okay."

Paige frowned. "Piper, I got an idea. You do that stuff and watch them, I'm gonna go check the Book of Shadows."

Piper nodded and went to the kitchen. They had limited art supplies, being a household of adults, but she managed to locate a handful of markers and a ream of printer paper. Phoebe and Leo hopped up onto the chairs circling the dining room table. Leo tucked one leg under himself. Phoebe sat on both her knees. Piper laid the markers between them and divided the paper between them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chris orbed into the attic. Paige looked up from the book. "Chris, you find anything?"

"Maybe... The Elders think They know who it was. Demon who did it…did you see the balls they got hit with?"

She nodded.

"What color were they?"

Paige paused. "White, I guess…they looked sort of like…light bulbs almost."

Chris nodded, running a hand through his dark hair. "I was afraid of that."

"What? What was it?"

"Innocence demon."

"Excuse me?"

Chris sighed. "He blasts his victims with innocence. Extreme, complete, total, all-encompassing innocence."

"I thought innocence was good."

"Yeah. When you're young. Or when it's a purity of spirit. Absolute innocence, though…They're losing knowledge, common sense. They'll regress more and more until they're infantile and lose their powers in the process."

"So what do we do?"

"What we always do. Find the demon and vanquish him."

Paige began flipping through the Book of Shadows. "Not seeing anything on him. Where do we find him?"

"Figures. He's never been stupid enough to attack a Charmed one."

"So there's no page on him, how are we supposed to vanquish him?"

"Not sure. But we can't just vanquish him with a spell. We need a potion. Fast. Their powers will stop working as they regress and they'll be more vulnerable."

Paige nodded and headed for the door. "I'll—"

Piper's scream sent the pair racing downstairs.

"What? What is it?" Chris asked. The concern in his voice turned to laughter as he entered the living room.

Paige followed him and laughed as Piper stared in horror at the wall. Phoebe and Leo sat on the floor, a scribbled mural covered the dining room wall.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

"Makin' the walls pretty," Phoebe said.

Leo smiled up at his wife. "We wan'ed t'surprise you."

"Think you did that," Chris said. "How come you didn't use paper though?"

Leo looked up at Chris, wide eyed. "We did but it's all gone."

Piper took a deep breath. Leo held up a blue crayon. "See? I made the f'owers blue 'cause Phoebe said blue's your fav'ite."

"That was nice of you, Leo, but how about we get you guys upstairs?"

"Don' wanna," Phoebe said and turned back to the wall, scribbling with a red marker what appeared to be a flower.

Piper stepped up and took the marker from her. "No! Phoebe, you have got to fight this! Now act like a grown-up!"

Phoebe's eyes filled with tears as she burst into tears.

"You're a meanie!" Leo shouted.

Piper threw her hands up in frustration, turning to Chris. "What did I do? Every time I talk to them, she ends up crying and my husband tells me I'm mean."

"They're reverting back to children. You can't just yell at them to stop. They see that as grown-ups being…grown-ups."

"So you're saying I should treat my husband and sister like children?"

Chris nodded and stepped past Piper, crouching down to Phoebe's eyelevel. "Hey, Pheebs."

"Hi," she whispered.

Chris stroked her hair and smiled. "I know Piper was being a little cranky, but how about we go upstairs and play up there?"

She looked at Piper, then Chris. "Is she coming?"

Chris glanced over his shoulder at Piper, giving her a mildly apologetic look. "No. We'll let her stay down here."

"Could Leo come too?"

"Sure. Leo, you wanna come with me and Phoebe?"

Leo looked up from his piled of markers and nodded.

"Chris, carry me?"

Piper rolled her eyes as Phoebe reached her arms up for Chris. He picked her up.

"Come on, Leo," he said. Leo hopped up and grabbed Chris's hand. He stuck his tongue out at Piper as they passed her.


	4. Chapter 4

Piper and Paige stood looking over the Book.

"Innocence demon?"

Paige nodded and repeated back what Chris had told her.

"So this demon hasn't attacked our family before so there's no spell or potion that we know works."

"Right."

"And we have to figure something out because killing this thing is the only way to stop Phoebe and Leo's regression?"

"Yep."

"Why don't we just do an aging spell?"

Paige frowned. "Didn't you tell me you tried something like that on that Dan guy you dated?"

"No, that was a different spell, but you're right. It'd probably backfire."

Chris orbed into the attic. "Okay, so they're playing house," he said.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Playing house?"

"Yeah…which means they're regressing further."

Piper sighed. "Okay, I'm taking Wyatt over to my dad's till we get this straightened out. Paige, keep looking. Chris, keep an eye on them. Maybe, um…maybe they'll take a nap or something."

She picked up Wyatt from his playpen. "Okay, baby, let's go see Grandpa."

* * *

Chris was pleased to see the pair already tiring when he went to check on them. Phoebe yawned. Leo's head jerked up every few seconds as he tried to keep his eyes open.

"Hey, guys. You, uh, you both look tired. You okay?"

"Tired," Phoebe said.

"You want naptime?"

Leo nodded, curling up on the floor.

"Okay…Leo, you want to go nap on a bed?"

He shook his head, not opening his eyes. Chris sighed and grabbed a pillow from Phoebe's bed.

"Here, Leo. Lift your head, buddy," he said.

Leo groaned and reluctantly complied, smiling when he realized he now had a pillow.

"You want a blanket?" Chris asked.

Leo nodded. Chris grabbed a throw blanket and covered him. Phoebe sat on the ground, staring at Chris.

"You ready for a nap too, Pheebs?"

She nodded and climbed up onto the bed. Chris pulled the comforter up around her.

"Thanks, Chris."

"You're welcome."

He turned to leave.

"Cwis?"

He stopped, noticing her sudden speech impediment.

"Cwis, sing me till I go sleep?"

He sighed softly and nodded, returning to the bed. Chris sat beside Phoebe and began to sing softly as she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, we have to work fast," Chris said.

"Where are they?"

"Asleep. Taking naps."

Paige sighed. "Okay, okay. We can't do a spell to reverse this, can we do one to stop it?"

"Stop it?"

"Yeah, there's got to be a way to stop a progressive spell, right?"

Chris nodded slowly. "Work on that. Piper back yet?"

The door downstairs opened and shut loudly.

"Unless demons started using doors," Paige said.

Chris orbed downstairs. "Wyatt's with your dad?"

"Yeah. Where's Leo and Phoebe?"

"Taking a nap."

As the pair returned to the attic, Chris filled her in on Paige's plan.

"No, no, no," Piper said, "we can't do a spell."

"Why not?"

"Consequences."

"Piper, it's not a reversal spell or an aging spell. It's just to stop a progressive spell."

"And let them stay this age?"

Chris threw his hands up. "Well it's better than them being defenseless."

Piper thought for a minute. "No. I got a better idea. Paige, find anything you can about making a talisman."

"A talisman?"

Chris nodded, realizing her plan. "Yeah. Protect them with necklaces they can wear around."

The sound of crying made them jump. "What the hell?"

Piper went to the bedroom and found Phoebe curled up on the bed, crying. She sat down.

"Remember, like kids," Chris said from the doorway.

"I know, I know."

Piper laid a hand on Phoebe's shoulder. "Phoebe, honey, you okay?"

"Pipe-uh! Pipe-uh, I had bad dweam!"

She stroked her sister's hair. "Okay, it's okay. You're okay. It was just a dream, sweetie. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."

Phoebe shook her head, crying louder. "Not jus' a dweam! A vewy vewy bad dweam!"

Leo woke from her crying and added his own sobs. Chris sighed and sat down on the floor.

"Shh, it's okay, Leo. Phoebe just had a bad dream."

Leo leaned his head on Chris's chest and stuck a thumb in his mouth. Chris put an awkward arm around his shoulders and began to rock back and forth.

"This is so dysfunctional," he muttered.

A loud crash made the group jump.

"Piper! Chris! Little help out here!" Paige shouted.

"Stay with Leo and Phoebe," Chris said as he rushed out the door.

Leo jumped up to follow him. Piper grabbed her husband by the arm and hauled him backwards. She shut and locked the door, knowing it wouldn't really do any good if anyone wanted to get in or out.

"Pipe-uh!"

"It's okay, guys. Chris just has to go help Paige with something but we have to stay here."

There was another crash.

"Paige, look out!" Chris's voice shouted.

There was another series of crashes and thuds. Leo's eyes widened.

"It a bad guy?"

Piper hesitated but nodded. "That's why we have to stay here, okay? Chris and Paige are taking care of it."

"I go help 'em," Leo said. He stood and orbed only to reappear in the same spot. "How come I didn't go nowhere?"

"I'm not sure, sweetie."

The thuds in the rest of the house seemed to be getting nearer. Piper noted the panicked look on Phoebe's face. She'd picked up her throw blanket and cuddled it against her cheek. Piper recalled her doing the same thing when they were little.

"Here, guys. You two come back in the corner here," she said.

Leo went to the corner furthest from the door. Phoebe crawled off the bed, nearly falling, and joined him. She held her blanket tightly and began to suck her thumb.

"You wan' hold my bwanky too?" she asked, holding a side up to Leo. The throw was plenty big for two and Piper smiled as they sat on the floor, the blanket shared and each sucking a thumb.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "This is unbelievable."

Someone tried the door and Phoebe began to scream. Leo's tears quickly followed, even after Piper opened the door to find Paige and Chris.

"Everything okay?" Piper asked, raising her voice over their cries.

Paige nodded. "Vanquished the guy."

"Clearly not the Innocence—"

"Don't use the D-word," Piper said.

Paige's side was bleeding.

"And would you please take care of that before they see it?" she asked Chris, pointing to the wound.

"Oh, jeez. Sorry, Paige. Didn't notice."

She shrugged. "Me either. Must've been the—my God, can you please make them stop?"

Piper turned to the crying witch and Whitelighter. "Guys, guys, guys…shh…it's okay… See? It's just Paige and Chris. It's…"

The cries continued and Piper threw her hands up. "Oh for cryin' out loud!"

To her surprise, Leo and Phoebe both froze.

"You froze them," Paige said.

"Yes, I did. I couldn't hear a damn thing you were saying. Now, your side. You said must've been what?"

"Oh, I was just going to say that it must've been the adrenaline rush."

Chris frowned. "Paige, adrenaline doesn't do that."

She rolled her eyes. "No, the reason I didn't notice it. Adrenaline rush."

"Oh."

Chris's eyes widened. "Wait…you froze them."

"Yes, we established that," Piper said.

"You froze Phoebe."

"Oh my God! You're right. I froze Phoebe. How did I freeze Phoebe? How could that happen?"

"She's losing her powers."

"Yeah...Leo too. He tried to orb and help you."

"He can't orb?"

"He started to but then he just reappeared in the same spot."

Chris sighed. "Okay, well, we need to get those talismen made fast. Paige, stay with them. Piper, you make the talismen. I'm gonna see what I can find out about the Innocence Demon."

"How come I have to stay with them?" Paige asked.

"Because you can orb them to safety if need be."

"Let's just hope you don't need to," Piper said.

She unfroze them and knelt to deal with their crying. "Shh...it's okay, guys. See? It was just Chris and Paige."

"Where duh bad guy?" Leo asked.

"I sent him away," Chris said, choosing his words carefully.

"Now Chris and I have to go do something. Can you two stay with Paige and be good?"

They nodded, their sobs having faded to muffled tears. Piper stood to go only to fall back to the ground.

"What the--"

Leo held firmly onto Piper's legs. "No! Don't wan' Pipe-uh go."

"Leo, I'm just going to the attic."

"No! No! Pipe-uh stay!"

Phoebe caught on to Leo's hysterical pleas and joined in. "Pipe-uh 'tay an' Paige go."

"I feel loved," Paige mumbled to Chris, crossing her arms over her chest.

He shook his head. "Piper's the one who was with them when the last demon attacked. They see her as being the only thing that protected them and kept them safe."

"Oh so they just don't trust me. Thanks, Chris. Feel a lot better now."

"Look, could you please not take this personally? They're thinking like three year-olds, okay? They see the one who was in the room, Piper, as being their protector and the one who saved them. It's not that they don't trust you, it's that they only trust her."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Hey, Piper."

"Little help here, please?"

Leo clung firmly to Piper's legs, still yelling his head off. "Pipe-uh stay! Stay! Pipe-uh stay!"

Phoebe had manuevered around and clutched Piper's arm. "Peas 'tay, Pipe-uh. Don' go nowhere. 'Tay wit us. 'Tay!"

Chris whistled loudly. "Okay, Piper will stay with you guys. Paige, you make the talismen and then stay with Piper and the other two."

Paige and Piper nodded.

"Okay, guys, you hear Chris? I'm staying. You can let go."

Phoebe loosened her grip on her sister's arm. "Pipe-uh 'tay here?"

"Yep. Right here."

Leo looked up at her, but didn't let go of her legs. "Pwomise?"

"Yes, Leo. I promise I'll stay here. Now could you please let go of my legs?"

He let go and returned to the blanket he and Phoebe had abandoned in the corner.


	6. Chapter 6

Chris orbed into the attic and found Paige stringing beads onto a talisman.

"Paige, what are you doing? It's not an art project."

She glared at him. "I realize that. Leo's already wearing his. Unfortunately, Phoebe won't wear hers until it's pretty and pink with flowers on it."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No. I had to go to the store and get pink beads and flower charms. There. Done."

Chris sighed and followed her down to the bedroom. Leo and Phoebe sat on the floor with a handful of children's books between them.

"Where'd those come from?"

"Attic. Good thing Grams saved everything."

"And that you're just as much of a packrat and didn't toss 'em," Paige added.

Piper smiled. "You got Phoebe's?"

"Yep. Hey, Phoebe, look what I got for you," Paige said, kneeling down.

Phoebe turned, giggling and clapping her hands together. Paige held out the necklace for her examination. Phoebe reached an awkward hand out to touch the beads lightly.

"Pwitty."

"You like it."

She nodded, clapping her hands together again.

"Can I put it on for you?"

Phoebe nodded and let Paige slip the necklace on. She flung her arms around Paige, nearly knocking her over.

"T'ank you, Paige!"

Paige smiled. "Whoa, okay, you're welcome."

"Leo, wook! My neck'ace is more pwitty den yours."

Leo rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the books.

"Okay, guys, grownups are gonna go talk in the hallway, all right?"

They nodded.

Chris led the way to the hallway. "We, um, we have a problem."

"This is just occurring to you? My husband is sucking his thumb and my sister is carrying a blanket."

"No, I mean, I talked to the Elders. Figured since the Book of Shadows had nothing, maybe they'd know."

"Yeah, and?"

"And…you want the good news or the bad news?"

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Spill it."

"Okay, the Innocence Demon can be vanquished, but you have to summon him and use a Power of Three spell."

"A Power of Three spell? Have you looked at Phoebe? She's losing regular speech abilities."

"Which is why we have to hurry."

Piper shook her head. "You guys saw the tantrums they threw just hearing a demon. Now we're supposed to make them face one?"

"Maybe Chris and Leo could stay down here," Paige said.

"He won't let Piper go fight a demon while someone else stays with him. Besides, if one of you gets hurt, you need me or Leo to be there."

"Fine, so how do we make sure they don't freak out completely?"

"I'll talk to them," Paige said.

She strode back into the bedroom.

"Done talkin'?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, now I have to talk to you guys though."

The two looked at each other, then sat up and turned to face Paige.

"We, um, we have to ask you guys a favor, okay? There's a bad guy we have to stop and so we're going to call him here and then—"

"No!" Phoebe shouted. "No, no, no! Don' call the bad guy! Don' call him!"

Leo threw his hands over his ears. "No! No! I not hear you! La! La! La!"

Piper touched Paige's shoulder. "Let me."

"Go ahead," she said with a sigh.

When Phoebe and Leo saw Piper sit in front of them, both calmed down, crawling towards her. Phoebe began touching her hair, playing with it. Leo laid down, his head in her lap.

"Okay, guys, do you trust me?"

"Wha's twus' me?"

"You guys know I'd never do anything to hurt you, right?"

They both nodded.

"And I would never let anything bad happen to you."

More nodding.

"Okay, so I need you guys to be big kids and help me?"

Leo sat up. "Wit duh bad guy?"

"Yes, but I promise if you guys do exactly what I tell you then you'll be fine and nothing will happen."

"We beat duh bad guy?" Phoebe asked.

Piper nodded. "Yes. We will beat the bad guy. You guys just have to listen very carefully, okay?"

"Okay," Leo said.

"O'tay."

"First, Leo, you are going to stay with Chris and be his helper, okay? Chris will protect you and he won't let anything happen."

"Wha' are me an' Cwis gon' do?"

"You're going to watch and you're going to help if anybody falls down."

"But you said nobody wi' get hurt."

Piper tried to think quickly. "I mean in case someone falls down."

Leo nodded. "If you fa' down, I get you a Ban'-Aid."

"And you'll stay with Chris and do exactly what he tells you?"

Leo nodded and stood up.

"You gonna be my special helper?" Chris asked.

Leo smiled. "Uh-huh!"

"Wha' am I gon' do?" Phoebe asked.

"You're going to stand with me and Paige and hold our hands and we're going to say a little poem together."

"Wha' poem?"

"Here, you and me practice, okay?"

Phoebe nodded.

"You say what I say. The Power of Three."

"The Pow-uh of Twee."

"Will set."

"Wi' se'."

"Us free."

"Us fwee."

"Okay, now altogether. The Power of Three will set us free."

"The Pow-uh of Twee wi' se' us fwee."

"Good! Very good, honey. Now, everyone upstairs. Paige, you'll summon?"

"On it."

Paige orbed up to begin the summoning with Chris's improvised spell.

She finished it just as Piper and Chris led Leo and Phoebe in.

Chris held Leo's hand and walked with him over to the side of the room.

"Okay, now we're going to wait here and be really quiet. Got it?"

"Why?" Leo whispered.

"Why what?"

"Why quiet?"

"Because I said so," Chris said with a smirk.

"Oh. O'tay."

Phoebe clutched Piper's hand as they made their way towards Paige. A swirl of smoke announced the demon's entrance. Phoebe screamed.

"It's okay, Phoebe. Just remember what I told you, okay?" Piper said.

Phoebe nodded, holding tightly to Piper. Piper shifted and moved Phoebe between her and Paige. The sisters held hands.

"Okay, Phoebe. Now we're gonna say the poem, okay?"

Phoebe nodded.

The three began to chant. "The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three—"

They stopped when the demon imploded in a glittery swirl of sand and dust.

"We beat duh bad guy?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, yeah we did…Chris? Why is she still not…Phoebe?"

Chris had already let go of Leo and moved to the pile of dust. He plucked up a tarnished silver necklace. A strange looking glass vial was held in place with a metallic web. Chris slammed it on the ground, shattering the glass. Light and orbs illuminated the attic before spiraling towards Leo and Phoebe, knocking each one to the ground.

Piper stared down at her sister. "Phoebe? You okay?"

Phoebe groaned and sat up. "What the hell…what happened?"

Leo sighed and struggled to his feet, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. Anyone else?"

Piper laughed and crossed the room to him, slipping her arms around his torso. "It's alright now."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you both just had a little growing up to do," Chris said.

"What?"

"You and Phoebe," Paige said. "But you did so you're fine now."

Paige and Chris headed downstairs.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked, following them. "Seriously, you guys. How'd I end up in the attic? And where in the world did this talisman come from?"

Piper laughed as Phoebe's questioning voice faded down the stairs. Leo chuckled, stroking her hair lovingly.

"What did happen?"

She giggled.

"Oh, come on, Piper."

"Come on. Let's see what the others are doing."

"Piper!"

She pulled away and headed downstairs.

"Piper, I'm serious! It's not funny."

When she didn't answer, Leo followed her down the staircase. He wondered if he'd ever know what happened. And wondering why he had the strange urge to suck his thumb.


End file.
